ENS 40163

v t e ENS Event
05:00 Jul 19, 2003
Title	Uncontrolled Release of Tritium from M109 Howitzer
Event Description	U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) was notified by U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM) on September 16, 2003 of an accident at Fort McCoy, WI on July 19, 2003. On July 19th, a M109 howitzer was being transported by a HumV when the HumV rolled over. Responders to the scene of the accident observed no physical damage to the M14 quadrant of the howitzer, which contains 2.2 Curies of tritium. Since no physical damage was observed, no wipe test was performed. On or near September 10, 2003, the howitzer was sent to a combined support maintenance shop (CSMS) for repair. At the CSMS site, a wipe test was performed on the quadrant (per procedure: prior to any repair on tritium fire control devices, a wipe test is performed). The quadrant was wipe tested on September 15, 2003 at a location inside the dial cavity and showed removable tritium contamination at 300,000 decades per minute. CECOM reported the incident to TACOM on September 16, 2003. Direction was given by TACOM to remove the device from the M109 howitzer, double bag it, and transfer to waste disposal. The area on the howitzer where the M14 quadrant was mounted is to be decontaminated and retested. Leak test results will be forthcoming from the CECOM lab to TACOM.

ENS 40163 +/-
Where
U.S. Army Rock Island, Illinois (NRC Region 3)
License number:	12-00722-06
Organization:	U.S. Army Tacom
Reporting

10 CFR 30.50(b)(1)
Time - Person (Reporting Time:+1427.23 h59.468 days <br />8.495 weeks <br />1.955 months <br />)
Opened:	Thomas Gizicki 16:14 Sep 16, 2003
NRC Officer:	Nathan Sanfilippo
Last Updated:	Sep 16, 2003
40163 - NRC Website
v • d • e

v t e Emergency Notification System
U.S. Army with 10 CFR 30.50(b)(1)
WEEKMONTHYEAR2013-04-11T17:00:00 [Table view]
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